Retail's lost generation - clothing for teenage boys - AM Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Sept 6, 1993

When Pete Townsend of the Who wrote the words "Hope I die before I get old," as a lyric for "My Generation," the classic rock anthem, the largest population boom in human history knew exactly to whom the British rocker was speaking.

He was addressing the first generation of individuals raised on television and rock 'n roll, the first generation born after the detonation of the A-bomb, the first generation that was going to stay young and rebellious forever. It was also the first generation to make dungarees and T-shirts acceptable forms of dress for social occasions.

The male members of this baby boomer group--the oldest of whom are approaching 50-were also the first individuals to buy their clothing in designated young men's areas.

During the '70s and well into the decade of the 1980s young men's departments flourished as the up-and-coming demographic group embraced fashions--from bell bottoms to beads--that reflected their world view,+ their "life-style," as it were.

Eventually, however, the men's wear industry's love of young men's began to languish. Main floor selling areas, which finally caught up to the times, and stores like The Gap, which, through merchandising and marketing magic turned basics into fashion, had become the shopping spots of choice for the former young men's customers. Also, the customers didn't die; they got older, they bought mini vans.

But, is young men's poised for a comeback? Will it happen in the mass market?

The demographics look promising. Many baby boomer children, part of the so-called boomlet generation, have reached their teen years. Eventually this group, with a cut-off birth date of 1995 (approximately), will account for 72 million births in the States, according to Dow Jones & Co.'s American Demographics magazine. That rivals the boomer group itself, which was the result of 76 million births between 1946 and 1964. The smaller baby buster cohort group or Generation X--born between 1965 and 1976--also presents young men's opportunities.

In addition, the apparel cycle, moving toward colorful fashion after being dominated by basics for more than two years, bodes well for the young men's business. And while few mass merchants are creating designated young men's shops, most are producing extraordinary sales with items that are clearly aimed at the teen to 30-year-old set.

These include: * Hooded flannel shirts * Cartoon character imprinted tops * Colored denim jeans * Long shorts * Baja jackets * Brushed twill * Stove pipe pants

"This is the first back-to-school that we are really going after young men's in a big way in a long time. Bradlees had been in young men's--for better or for worse--years ago, but we got out of it to concentrate on core traditional and contemporary men's wear," explains Jon Devorkin, divisional merchandise at Braintree, Mass-based Bradlees.

Year-to-date success with hooded woven sport shirts, colored shorts in both 27-inch and 22-inch inseam lengths, jeans and Looney Tunes T-shirts inspired Devorkin and company to organize young men's into concise sections, if not out-and-out shops. Even this segmentation is uncommon at most discount store operations.

Bradlees' areas, which grace back or primary focal walls in the men's wear area this fall, feature banners with the Young Attitudes moniker, a name Bradlees also utilizes in its highly developed juniors department.

Sears, Roebuck and Co., which has been in the process of transforming its hard goods-oriented general merchandise units into apparel-driven moderate department stores, takes young men's a step further. It's created modular young men's shops sporting TV monitors and music videos in about 450 of the chain's remodeled stores.

"We are definitely targeting young men's customers. We had an excellent fall and spring and are very excited about how back-to-school will turn out. We've had a very aggressive plan for the category, and so far, we are right on plan," says Meg Rist, Sears? divisional vice president for men's apparel.

Sears and Bradlees' young men's efforts, however, seem to be the exceptions rather than the rule. Most mass merchants, while certainly stocking styles with youthful apparel, merchandise these items as part of the general men's wear mix.

"What drives the young men's business at Caldor is the same thing that drives any of our apparel businesses as far as we are concerned, and that's volume, trend opportunities. One of these this year is hooded wovens and flannels. But wrinkle-free cotton pants are also exploding, and these appeal to an entirely different customer [than the hoods]. We don't allocate dollars and space to a category-like young men's or whatever. Rather, we put the dollars where the action is," says Caldor senior vp/general merchandise manager Mark Minsky.

This philosophy is shared by Tom Lonabocker, an assistant vice president and merchandise manager at Canton, Mass.-based Hills.

"Hooded flannel is on fire. Colored jeans are unbelievably wild, we had five- or six-week stock turns on them, and Looney Tunes is probably the hottest license I've ever seen. There's really a lot of fashion happening in men's wear now.